Marvel Reborn: Midnight Sons

Customs by

Luke Thompson

e-mail

itiscertain@hotmail.com

Web Address

none

Recipes:

Caretaker	Hannibal King	Frank Drake

Caretaker: Somehow I thought he was deserving of a figure. It's not a god one, but frankly, I was never really fond of Caretaker. He was important to Ghost Rider and the Midnight Sons, and I wanted to see them all as figures. He's not terrible, but to be honest, there are some days when I wonder why he was so important to make before some of the other guys.
Caretaker was made from the legs of Howie (Backstreet Boys), a Spider-Man torso, a head from Alan Grant (Jurassic Park), and arms from another JP figure. The shovel was a Mulan bo staff topped with a head from the shovel that came with Groundskeeper Willie (The Simpsons).

Hannibal King: I find something strange, yet funny, about the fact that I turned Captain America into a vampire. His body worked so beautifully for Hannibal that I just could help but love the well he turned out. I still need to figure out how to make his cape to finish him...
King was a Marvel vs Capcom Captain America, and I topped him off with a head from a Transforming Shadow figure.

Frank Drake: Like I said, a better one is definitely in the works, but with all the work I put into this one, I'll definitely be putting it to use at some point. I'm not sure what other character he could be turned into, but I'll find something. I was really pleased with this figure, but Hannibal was well out of scale, and with the new Marvel Legends Blade, it'll just be easier to make another Drake and have a ML-scaled Nightstalkers crew.
Drake's legs were from Longshot, his torso was First Mate Robin (Legends of Batman), and his arms and head are from a cheap medieval knight figure (the arms used a knockoff Archangel 2 body). The 'Exorcist' gun is from Cable 2.

Sam Buchanan	Vickie Montesi	Strange

Sam Buchanan: If you're one of those that liked Darkhold, then you'll notice something interesting. In the first few issues, Sam is a fairly average guy, but as the series goes on, he turns into Rambo. By the time you hit the last issue of the series, his bicep is about the same size as Vickie's waist. His hair color changes as well, from red to brown. I went for this later look; it was simply easier to work with, but I went for the red hair to set him apart- not very many men in the Marvel Universe have red hair.
Sam's entire body is a New Adventures of He-Man figure (Thunder Punch He-Man), with a Jimmy Lee (Double Dragon) head. The pistol is from... heck, I've got so many of those laying around, I can't be sure who that one originally belonged to.

Vickie Montesi: The darling of the Darkhold series, finally immortalized in plastic! I loved the Darkhold series, and if it weren't for the lack of bases for Louise Hastings, I might actually have the original Nine of the Midnight Sons. Sadly, I just can't seem to find a whole lot that will work for a middle-aged, overweight black woman. Eight out of nine isn't bad, I suppose...
Chthon's progeny and would-be mother was made from the legs and torso of Dot Matrix (Reboot), the arms and head of Psylocke. Her jacket came of a Shotgun Mary figure. By the by, if you check out Vickie's outfit as she leaves the hospital in Darkhold #1, this is it almost exactly, with the only exception being shirt color.

Strange: I always liked this guy. Cool origin, fantastic abilities, great look, and a take-no-prisoners attitude... what's not to like? Sadly, he's long gone and swept under the rug at this point, but he's a necessary component to complete the Midnight Sons, and I really liked him. To be honest, this is probably one of my best paint jobs- I surprised myself with how well he turned out.
The living spell used to be a Spider-Man figure, and he's topped off with a Captain Terror cape- I actually bought the good captain just for the cape, and ended up using more of him than I ever expected to (see Nightmare and Annex). I'd say it's four dollars well spent.

Centurius	Nightmare

Centurius: Personally, I'm of the mind the Centurius is one of the most dangerous and imaginative Marvel villains ever created. However, his two looks left a bit to be desired. A middle-aged guy with a green suit and purple cape just isn't threatening, and neither is a man in thigh boots and a hand-me-down Mandarin helmet. I tried combining the two looks; still not perfect, but I think it works. I'm actually planning to add a helmet to him at some point, just to complete his later look, but I still can't stomach the thought of doing him up in a green suit.
Centurius is Colossus 1, with a head from Magneto 1. His hands were replaced with some from a Spider-Man figure. His apron is from a Ronin Warrior, and the cape is from Blacklash.

Nightmare: It is simply a crime that a tremendous villain like Nightmare never got his own figure. I've loved the little psycho from the moment I first read a story with him in it. I will be doing a better figure of him at some point (after seeing a Nightmare custom using a Hobgoblin body, this one just won't do anymore), but I do like this head. I've had at least one person question my choice of eye color, and I had to point out to him my research actually showed over half a dozen eye variants.
Nightmare used to be Captain Terror (Speed Racer), and his head was Nightcrawler 1. The cape was from Bloth (Pirates of Dark Water).

Mephisto

Mephisto: I can understand why Toy Biz never made a Mephisto figure, but come on- wouldn't have been a kick to see him on the shelves? "Mepisto- With Lord of Lies! With Soul-Stealing Action!" I can just see all the kiddies lining up for him!
Mephisto was made from a Spider torso and legs, with a head and arms from Sandman (DC Direct). His cape was from Hellina, and his hair was from a troll doll. Seriously.